Twinkle, Twinkle, little bunny

Meet Twinkle, the newest *star* of the microfarm. She is an Angora rabbit- a fiber bunny! Here she is on the day of her arrival. I was smitten at first sight, and even more smitten at first touch, when her previous owner handed her off to me. Her wool is incredibly soft. I would love to walk around holding her all day, but I don't think she would appreciate that...

An Angora rabbit was an ideal addition to the microfarm because:

1. Rabbits are small, so they do not take up much space, and are inexpensive to feed.
2. They are capable of producing many ounces of soft, airy, luxurious fiber for spinning into yarn.
3. They are incredibly cute.

Twinkle is an older Doe, being about 4-5 yrs old, which concerned me at first. After all, I didn't want to get attached to a bunny who was nearing the end of her life, and my googling efforts produced conflicting info. on how long a bunny's lifespan is, ranging from anywhere between 5-15 yrs. I figured that if I helped her to stay healthy, she would have at least a few good years with us. Plus she was right up the road, and I didn't exactly want to travel far with my 3 kids to pick up an Angora. I couldn't be happier with her. She seems to know what she is doing, more than I know what I'm doing with her, if that makes any sense. She seems to have some experience under all that fluff.

Twinkle was accustomed to living outside in a wire cage before I got her. Right now she is living in her temporary home- a large plastic dog crate in my unheated mudroom, with access to the room during the day for a little exercise. Nick is finishing up her custom built (from mostly pallets) rabbit hutch, where she will live outside. That angora wool that she so fashionably wears, which is 7 times warmer than sheeps' wool, will keep her warm during the cold winter months. I've read that rabbits can tolerate cold much better than heat. I will also spoil her with blankets over the hutch for extra protection, and plenty of hay and straw. Some Angora owners prefer wire cages without a lot of "stuff" like straw that can get stuck in their fur. After all, that wool is the harvest! It's how she earns her keep around here. I say, let her get some straw in her fur, if that's what she would like. I'll happily pick it out. 

It didn't take long for me to harvest a little sample.

And spin a little sample...

As far as plucking/shearing 3 to 4 times a year, I don't think that will be a problem. I've groomed her twice already, gently coaxing her to trust me. Of course, my efforts were thwarted by all my helpers, some more subtle than others.

If the extra "help" bothered her, she sure didn't let on.

I did, however, notice that her nictitating membrane, or, "third eyelid" became visible, which may or may not have been an indicator of nervousness... not sure on this one because my googling results were inconclusive.

It is quite apparent that Angora rabbits have been bred for hundreds of years for their calm, docile temperaments, which make them very easy to groom. I've seen youtube videos of people holding their fluffballs on their laps, spinning the wool directly from the source as the rabbit just seems to chill out contentedly.  Twinkle did just this on my small counter-height kitchen table which served as a perfect grooming table. MUCH easier and more enjoyable than grooming my Collies, who insist on challenging my attempts by walking around the room as I brush. Using a metal comb, I gently detangled her fluff, and removed any loose fibres, which I later enthusiastically spun. 

Thus far, she is the easiest to care for farm animal, and her size makes her a much better choice of fiber producer than say, an alpaca or a sheep. I still want some alpacas some day, but I honestly don't think I'll ever NOT want an Angora rabbit. Or two. 

Sloooow down... Rachel's Rabbitry is not up for business just yet. My hands are FULL with my 3 children, 2 goats, and 7 chickens and new bunny. The microfarm is closed to any new farmyard friends for a while. 

Thank you, Twinkle, for being so easy to please, and teaching me. And for eating those freakish looking carrots we grew in our rocky soil last summer. I'm glad somebunny appreciates them!

Healthy(ish) Sprouted Wheat Snickerdoodles

I have a picky eater in my house. She's a six year old refuser of many foods. She likes her raw fruits and veggies, I'll give her that, but when it comes to many "normal" foods like cheese, pizza, potatoes (in any form other than chip or fry), and chicken that is not in nugget form, she's a tough one to please.

Well, she actually loves pizza. Cheeseless pizza. With parmesan (because that is the one cheese exception) and sauce only, but only the powdered kind of parmesan... and don't be offering her any  sauce that is not smooth, because she has superhuman texture detection powers. I should tell her that she has those powers. She would think it's cool... but I don't want to encourage it.

 Anyway, you get the point. Over the years, her "selective eating" has morphed in slight ways, sometimes allowing new things into her palate, and rejecting old favorites. The pickiness remains constant.

So, on those school days that she rejects what is being served for hot lunch, I must pack her a healthy cold lunch, lest she starve herself... almost... and come home in starving monster mode (not a good time). This is a challenge, because the girl will not eat a sandwich unless it is crustless and it's contents consist of only Nutella. Sometimes even then, it is rejected, especially if it is cut into the wrong shape, or the bread is not the right texture.

 What is a mom to do? I toss in tons of fresh fruit and veggies, some favorite carbs, and... what else? Last night I was brainstorming, and lamenting that the school was serving tomato soup for lunch, and we had were out of both bread, and Nutella. I needed a replacement. With the high sugar content of Nutella, and the overly processed and preserved ingredients of store bought bread, I figured I may as well just be packing her a cookie. A homemade cookie, with no shady ingredients, and kicked up a health notch by using coconut sugar, which is lower on the glycemic index (no quick sugar high and subsequent crash), and sprouted wheat flour, which is also low GI and higher in absorbable nutrients and digestibility than white or wheat flour that is not sprouted.  Furthermore this cookie should be made with butter (which, if grass-fed, I consider to be a healthy fat) or coconut oil. So I basically needed to make healthy sprouted wheat bread, disguised in cookie form.

This is what I came up with, and because they disappeared so quickly last night and this morning (yes, we all had some for breakfast), I altered the recipe to make a double batch. This recipe was inspired by snickerdoodle recipes on allrecipes, and tweaked to fit our needs. It yields about 4 dozen smallish cookies.

Sprouted Snickerdoodles

• 1 cup butter or coconut oil (I used butter)
• 2 cups coconut sugar or granulated sugar of choice (can be reduced to 1.5 cups)
• 2 eggs (from your backyard chickens, of course)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract 
• 3 cups sprouted wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cream of tartar

For rolling the dough in:

• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp cinnamon

Begin by creaming your soft (room temp) butter with your sugar. Try not to do what I did in this picture and add in your egg and vanilla because your room temperature butter was not soft enough to blend. For best results, cream butter and sugar, and then mix in eggs and vanilla until blended.

 Gradually add in your dry ingredients, or, if you're impatient, dump them all in at once and see them form a cloud of flour around you as you're mixing...

The resulting dough will be quite thick, and could potentially cause a strange burning smell to come from your mixer... you may even see bits of dough flying around you.

Don't be like me. Make sure your butter is soft, for easy mixing, and use a nice, big bowl to mix up that dough and catch the fly-aways.

Your dough should be thick enough to roll into little balls, and coat with your sugar/cinnamon mixture. If it's too sticky, you can refrigerate for a while. Set your little cinnamon-sugary dough balls on a baking sheet, and press them down lightly with the bottom of a glass, if you wish.

Bake for 8 minutes in a preheated 375 degree oven. They should come out perfect, or, like this.

 Snickerdoodles are a favorite around here, with their slight crispness on the outside, and soft goodness on the inside.  The best thing about these cookies, other than the fact that they're easy on the tastebuds, is that they are also pretty filling, due to the fact that they are made with sprouted wheat flour.

Some might call it a cookie. I call it breakfast. Or lunch. Or a snack, that is healthier than a nutella sandwich.

Farm Happenings, or... Lackthereof...

I think it's about time I wrote another blog post, and that is about the only reason why I'm writing this now... maybe I'm just trying to figure out what I'm even thinking.

Nothing is really happening on my little "farm" right now. Just feeding chickens and goats each morning, enjoying just enough time to mutter a few words to them and give the goats a scratch on the cheek, maybe snapping a picture or two every few days so that the kids and I can enjoy them from the warmth of inside the house... repeat at night, only shutting the chicken coop door instead of opening it. Have I mentioned that it's cold out there?  This may give you an idea.

 



I enjoy spending time out there with the animals, even if it's just a few minutes, while waiting for the school bus in the morning with my oldest daughter, or sneaking a few minutes outside in the afternoon while Barney or Baby einstein entertain my 1 yr old. That time is calming, and restorative... and restorative is good, since I'm not getting any sleep at night (thank you, teething and genetics for poor sleepers).  Such is the life of this mom of three beautiful, busy children. Children who entertain me and the animals, by doing things like this.

Miss Red Hen really is the most kid- friendly chicken, even if she is a little... errr... strange... poor thing is at the bottom of the pecking order, possibly because she is always straying from the rest of the flock. She sometimes seems to prefer human attention.

These chickens, they never cease to amuse me. Those moments of comic relief are a welcome part of this harsh winter... a winter that, if it were up to me (and the majority of the animal and human population), would SO be over.

I feel like I'm in a tough place right now. I know what I want to do, and where I want to be.... and I'm not even close to being there. You see, I strongly believe in the future of micro-farming in this overpopulated world. Sometimes it's a necessity... and there really is a lot one can do on just a little bit of land, to be more healthy and sustainable. However, I live in a rural area, and I'm surrounded by land. I'm stuck where I am, for now, and none of that land is mine. By some cruel twist of fate, my life path is leading to a lifestyle that can not be supported fully by my current living conditions.  It's frustrating. And not the small kind of frustration, like this:

I'm talking about the "WHY, GOD, WHYYYYYY????" Kind of frustration.

Okay, maybe that's a bit dramatic.

I do appreciate the things that I DO have, and truthfully, when I am fortunate enough to acquire some land, I will probably still be gardening directly outside my front door, and keeping my chickens and goats close to the house, because it's just convenient that way.

It would be nice to have some land for pasture... that option would be nice. I do have Alpaca dreams, after all, which is why I've begun to learn to spin fiber on a drop spindle. It's ugly yarn, but we all have to start somewhere, right?

I think that, being stuck where I am for now, I should push away those Alpaca dreams and make room for.... Angora bunnies! They don't take up much space at all!

"The Microfarm Chick" has big dreams of fiber farming, spinning beautiful yarn, more eggs, goat's milk, soap-making, Gardening and someday beekeeping.

I'm not an idealistic supermom/superfarmer, however, and I get depressed and discouraged. I'm in a darker place at the moment, and could use a ray of light. Or some sleep... that would work... but I don't forsee that happening anytime soon.

This is not my land, by the way. This is the view across the road... the beautiful view that taunts me every single day, and reminds me of what I do not have. It also reminds me of what I WILL someday have.  I can't decide if I'm an optimist, or a pessimist, really. I think I'm just human.

Someday... until then... stay warm.

Why I'm Grateful for Goats

I had a fantastic spring, summer, and fall this year. Because I decided to turn my front yard into a garden, and learn how to raise chickens in spite of our small amount of land, I felt more alive and more myself than ever. I learned that it's possible to cultivate a small outdoor space into a fruitful, fertile, farmish one.  Fresh veggies, fresh eggs, and fun with chickens. The kids loved it! What's not to be grateful for?

In my quest to be happy and productive with what I had, I learned a lot and overcame some mental obstacles that have been keeping me from growing as a gardener, and farmer (wannabe). Then, something happened.

It began to get colder. And darker. This white stuff started falling from the sky and sticking to the ground, and my chickens were not impressed. They sought refuge in any spot of bare grass or dirt they could find, and their options became less, and less. They began to stay inside the coop in protest.

It wasn't even winter yet, and my chickens had a bad case of winter doldrums... the egg production slowed to a near halt. Even the neighbor chickens stopped visiting.

Following in my chickens' snow tracks, I began to feel the same. More time indoors, and less productivity was making me feel depressed, and wanting for more. Cabin fever was setting in, and our small, quaint little house began to feel TOO small. Once again, I started longingly gazing at the vast acres of land surrounding me that weren't mine, and feeling defeated. We need more land, I thought. Maybe I should just give up. What kind of weirdo thinks they can be a farmer on less than a quarter acre? These thoughts were keeping me down, and uninspired.

Then, things started to slowly turn around. My two young pullets finally started laying, so eggs began appearing in the nesting boxes, once again! The chickens stopped protesting, and started venturing out of the coop again, especially when I served them their hot molasses and acv tea!

Even the neighbor chickens started coming around again! The chickens and I began to face the fact that the winter doldrums will not go away on their own. We had to join forces and stop cooping ourselves up and face the cold and snow. And that we did!

Feeling more and more exhilarated from the cold and sun, I willed my inspiration to return, and battled those self-defeating, exasperating negative thoughts I was having about not having enough. Not being enough.

As I gazed at the spot where my once fecund garden lived, I stopped seeing a patch of straw and snow covered ground, and started seeing potential, and an opportunity to plan for next spring. I also saw mole tracks and burrows in the snow, and got this adorable little guy to help fend them off.

Meet Milo, the Microfarm Mouser. He doesn't really know that he has a job to do yet.

As I gazed at our side yard under the leafless willow tree, I visualized NOT a boring empty yard, but a space that needed to be utilized and filled with life.

So I proceeded to do what any sane person crazy homesteader would do in my situation, and found some new livestock to fill it up! Meet Violet and Snowdrop, my Nigerian Dwarf Goats.

Violet is a 3 yr old bred doe, who is due to kid in March. Yay for baby goats! And goat's milk! And learning to milk a goat, and make goat's milk soap!

This is Snowdrop, an 8 month old doeling. She likes to stand directly on top of the hay when she eats it, evidently. She is adorable. 

So far I've found them to be extremely calm and friendly. They tolerated riding in the trunk of my station wagon incredibly well, and seem to be adjusting to their new space amazingly. The perfect beginner goats with their sweet dispositions. I feel so grateful and blessed. The human kids are happy too!

 

And check out our awesome, top of the line, diy pallet fence! Didn't Nick do a nice job? I'm sure having goats will present us with new joys, as well as new challenges, and I'm up for both.

So, I think I'm set for a happy winter. Nothing gets you out of the house like having to care for livestock, right? I think I've found the cure for my Winter blues, just in time for the winter solstice to actually arrive. I'm settling into our "too small" house on our "too small" land, and It's going to be just enough for now.

Yogurt for Chickens

A tasty and beneficial treat!

Many of us "chicken people" find joy in treating our feathered friends.  Some of us *ahem* even go so far as to prepare special chicken salads for their appreciative pets  livestock.  

I'm slightly new to the art job of chicken-keeping, so I tend to get overly enthusiastic about feeding treats to the chickens.  What can I say, it makes me feel important when they all come running to me the second I step outside.  I know they're really just using me for my food, but I choose to be delusional and think that they love me.  They really love me!

Can you see the love?

Perhaps this look of adoration could be interpreted as a look of, "put the darn camera down and feed me," but whatever.

The more these chicks (and rooster) appreciatively hungrily gobble up the special treats that I give them, the more fun I have obsessing over finding new foods to give them that are fun and healthy.  

I swear I will stop putting lines through my words now.  Moving on...

My newest treat obsession= Yogurt!  They love it.  And so do I.  I eat the plain, whole milk kind, so that's what they are getting as well.  

Sometimes they like it mixed with oatmeal.  And sometimes they indulge in a fancy, gourmet salad comprised of strawberry tops, yogurt, and flax.  

I would even eat it, if it weren't for the green stuff.  Check it out!  

I think the flock felt special, eating this.  And I felt like a gourmet chicken chef. 

 Just let me be delusional.  Simple pleasures, my friends.  

Why feed yogurt to your flock?

1.  They like it

2.  Digestion-improving, health-boosting, probiotics (they're good for chickens, too!)

3.  Calcium (you know, the stuff their shells are made of?)

Do your chickens indulge in yogurt treats?

Why did the Chickens Cross the Road?

*Warning*  This post may contain severely anthropomorphic interpretations of chickens

We've encountered some uninvited guests lately.  At first I welcomed them, but that's before I learned what they were capable of.

 Yes, I was flattered when the chickens from across the road started coming over to my little yard to visit.  They just invited themselves into the coop, but I was okay with that.  The kids were excited about the "visitor chickens."

It was actually quite rude, now that I think of it.  They barged on in when my chickens weren't even home, and had the nerve to start scratching around, as chickens often do.

Eventually some of my chickens needed to utilize their coop, so they entered as well.  They were kind enough not to kick these visitors out, as some chickens would when presented with coop invaders.

One of my poor black hens was forced to lay an egg without any privacy at all. Perhaps I should put up some nesting box curtains, in case this happens in the future.  I mean, really.... she should have been more prepared, right?

  Maybe she should have laid her egg sooner in the day.  No, that's victim-blaming.  These chickens had no right to do what they did.

Still don't think they were over-stepping their farm boundaries?  Neither did I.  But now I see how they really were... their true colors may appear a rusty red, but their souls are black, I tell you.  I'm being overly dramatic, you say?  Think they're just a bunch of dumb chickens?  Looking back, I realize that they had an evil plan.  

 That harmless scratching at the ground, just doing what chickens do?  They had ulterior motives all along.  Our coop has a dirt floor.  I bet they found some good bugs in there.  Bugs that were rightfully MY chickens'.

See that lower nesting box there?  It has no straw left in it.  That is the ONLY nesting box my chickens like to use, and these rude visitor chickens kicked ALL the straw out of it, time and time again.

My children were forced to donate a plastic egg from their play kitchen, in order to place it in the upper nesting box, to convince our chickens that they should use it, instead of the straw-less lower nesting box.  My chickens were holding in their eggs, people!

I suppose these visitor chickens may not have recognized that a repurposed plant pot turned on its side is a perfectly acceptable nesting box.  Snobs.  They come from acres and acres of land, and have a beautifully crafted chicken coop complete with built- in nesting boxes that are accessible from the outside.  They must think they're better than my chickens.

Know what else they did?  They ate my chickens' layer pellets.  Lots of 'em.  And they didn't even have the common courtesy to lay me an egg.  Freeloaders!

Thankfully, our persistence in the face of adversity paid off.  My 4 year old daughter, Bayleigh, had a good feeling and decided to check the coop for eggs.  She came back to me, and excitedly reported that she saw this:

Poor thing lost some feathers from all the stress, but she saw the fake egg, and finally recognized the upper nesting box as an acceptable place to lay.

 Our plan worked!  A real egg, once again!

I haven't spotted any visitor chickens in the coop since the real egg was laid.  I see them foraging around the yard sometimes, and scratching around in the dirt road behind out house.  But they have backed off since they learned that they can deface our nesting box, and eat our chickens' food, but they can never break our spirit.  

Just kidding, I love seeing the neighbor's chickens.  The more the merrier.  It's a chicken party up in here.

The Beauty Around Us

Fall is upon us. It's a bittersweet time for those who garden in regions where the winters are too cold to grow anything.  I look forward to Winter as a time of reflection of what I have learned from my gardening experiences this year, and planning for the growing season to come. 

 I took some photos to say goodbye to some of my plants.  I'm no photographer, but it doesn't take one to capture the natural beauty that comes out of a garden.

This little baby lettuce was confused by the warm fall we've been having up until recently, and took the opportunity to grow, since some of the space hogs were done for the season and cleared out.  It's a variety of Romaine called 'Crisp Mint,' and it's actually survived several frosts.  Sadly, it will never grow large enough for me to enjoy more than a single salad, but the chickens decided they like it! 

 I plan on planting it again next season- this year it was kind of an afterthought, planted too late with not enough space to grow.  But it's pretty!

I've been in love with my Swiss Chard all Summer and Fall...  It's such a hardy plant, and almost too lovely to eat.  Almost.

Just look at the beautiful texture and shine of those leaves... gorgeous!

And I know I already mentioned my appreciation for Nasturtiums, but how could I not include this  garden photo?

Beautiful and Purposeful, they are.

I attribute the success of my very first Red Cabbage to those Nasturtiums.  Remember my accidental companion planting that resulted in my cabbage no longer getting eaten by whatever was eating it?  This is the result!

Sure, it's not perfect.  There are plenty of holes in the outer leaves, but I think of them as battle scars.  This cabbage is a survivor!  Is there any vegetable more cool looking than the inside of a Red Cabbage?  This Cabbage represents a lesson for me, that I will always remember.  This Cabbage made me a better gardener.  Am I getting too sentimental over Cabbage?  Should I be capitalizing the word, "Cabbage?" It's pretty important to me, so I say YES!

Now HERE is something Beautiful.  Thank you feathered friends!

Don't mind the bacon grease- I know I don't!